Find out how you can protect your child's identity in addition to your own.

Transcript

We've all been warned to protect our personal information from identity theft; but we don't always apply the same standards to our kids. Increasingly, thieves are harvesting children's Social Security numbers and using them to illegally obtain jobs or open fraudulent accounts. Victims often don't know anything's wrong until after they're turned down for a loan years later.

Your children need Social Security numbers to be claimed on your taxes, for medical coverage and other legitimate reasons. Just be sure to take adequate safety precautions. For example, see if other identification is acceptable and ask that it not be used as the child's personal ID number.

Bottom line: Make sure your children start adulthood without a tarnished credit history.

Related Articles

Email to a friend

Your Name:

Your Email:

Recipient's Email:

Message:

Enter code:

The information that you provide through this e-mail feature will not be stored by Visa for any other purposes. Please refer to Visa's privacy policy for details.